Introducing milk soon... any tips?

Lyndsay - posted on 04/16/2010
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My daughter is 10 1/2 months and drinks juice and water from a sippy cup wonderfully. She only breastfeeds about 3-4 times per day now and pumping has become a joke because of how little I produce. What would be a good way to introduce milk slowly? Should I mix it with water to start? Any tips would help!

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Beck - posted on 04/16/2010

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My son had cows milk in his cereal from 9-10months, a 11.5mths he had some straight in a sipper cup. He still has 2-4 bfeeds a day at 14mths but sometimes has some milk in a sipper if I think he wants more.

My daughter is 11 months old and i just started giving her a small amount of cows milk. I give whole milk. I am running out of frozen breastmilk. I always used the frozen milk to mix with her cereal. Then i nurse her throughout the day. I mixed half breastmilk and half cows milk for the first week. So really she is only getting 2 ounces of cows milk a day. I did notice her bowel movements to be a little more runny the first couple days. I would check with our doctor, thats what i did. He wanted to make sure that she was getting enough solid food before giving her straight cows milk. He told me no more than 6 ounces a day right now. Hope this helps!

We just gave him whole milk in his sippy cup (we cheated and gave it to him a few days before his first birthday cause he was driving me nuts with wanting to nurse almost constantly.... but that was at most a week early). He took it well after just a couple of tries, and he's usually quite picky. So just keep trying, but definately wait till she's a year old (or very very very close. :)

Hold off on milk till her first b-day at least. Before her first b-day, she needs breastmilk or formula.

I know what you mean about the pumping- some days I get more than others and have mostly given up on it since I'm available for her to nurse most of the time. She's almost a year old and eating more solids. When I go out, I leave whatever I can pump and we have a can of formula just in case. She's usually content to do without milk until I return- munching on whatever food her Dad offers her.

When your dd is a year old, you can gradually offer her whole milk- NEVER dilute her milk with water it puts her at risk for malnutrition since she would be drinking more water than the fatty nutritious milk. Her tummy would be full before she had received enough calories and nutrients. Wait till she's at least a year old and if she doesn't like the flavor, mix the milk with breastmilk.

I'd mix it with a little water first, watch for tummy upset and rashes on her face and trunk, those are signs of an allergic reaction. Just make sure you give whole milk, as 2% and part skim lack the essential fat babies and toddlers need for brain development and shouldn't be given until they're two years or older. We buy Horizon organic milk with added DHA ourselves.